Hello Ashford property investors,

The Ashford property market has been one to watch for a while and Kent County Council’s latest property market report reveals how Ashford has seen the highest percentage growth at 10.9% during 2020.

In addition, Ashford beat the Kent average of 6.9% by a whopping 4%! I knew Ashford was a great market to keep an eye on, but this data really does begin to confirm that.

Not only this, but when you strip out the new property sales (which have seen a lower growth %), Ashford really does stand out at a remarkable 13.1% growth or £41,991 for older properties!

What is interesting, however, is breaking down the sales by type of property.

There are a couple of things that stand out here and this is how Ashford has the highest proportion of detached house sales at around 38%, compared to Medway’s just over 40% of terraced house sales. This may reflect the make-up of properties within each area.

Whilst these statistics are certainly interesting and very helpful, we have been experiencing some extraordinary times over the past 18 months and with the stamp duty holiday now having begun to taper off it will be interesting to see if this upward trend continues.

I certainly think that there will be some degree of settling, however, with a lack of stock available, it will be interesting to see if there are any further increases to prices. With the crazy time the market has had due to the stamp duty holiday, I suspect that those who want to move have done so already and this could lead to a lack of demand for a period. If this happens, it could lead to a decrease in (or slowing of) prices!

Either way, those who already hold investments in Ashford will be able to benefit from increased equity within their properties which could either be utilised to bring down mortgage repayments or released to fund portfolio expansion.

Let’s see where we are at the end of 2021! Either way, whilst there are good and bad investments in and of themselves, the saying generally goes that there is never necessarily a bad time to make a property investment, there is just a better time to make that investment. This is because property should be seen as a long-term investment and, historically, has proved to be very robust.

If you are considering a property investment within Ashford or looking to expand your portfolio, I will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have. You can reach me by connecting on LinkedIn.

Hasan